Juliet Must Die
by RedRogue
Summary: I was a Quiluete, he was a Vulturi. We were doomed from the start, and we knew it. But it didn't stop us from trying anyway.
1. Chapter 1: Upon First Meeting

**A/N: No, faithful readers, don't think less of me for succumbing to a Twilight fiction. This has little to do with the main guys of the Twilight story, you must understand. The concept and idea was just too tempting to pass up. Enjoy!**

**~RR~**

**Chapter 1: Upon First Meeting**

**~RR~**

There was a time when I didn't care much. I didn't think too hard, or worry. I just lived my life, pretty happy, I thought. But I didn't truly live, because there was nothing I was really living for. In a single day, all that changed…

I pressed my palms together gently, breathing in and out slowly, as I finished my yoga vinyasa stance. It was a peaceful Saturday morning, nothing too different about it, save for it being a gorgeous day outside.

I took a quick glance at Leah Clearwater to my right, who never spoke during the exercising, or even otherwise. I liked to pretend I was her friend anyhow, knowing she was part of Jacob Black's new rogue pack, while I was still a nobody in the background of the Quileute tribe.

"Nice workout today, huh?" I offered to Leah. Her eyes remained closed, and she was unresponsive.

To my left, a girl who didn't think I was invisible: my best friend, Madison, waved Leah off and answered my question in an attempt at remedying my looming embarrassment.

"I thought it was a nice workout," she said snottily. "I'll be feeling it tomorrow for sure."

I smiled in visibly fake gratitude. Madison was a great friend, always there as my support and backup. She was quite the commodity among the boys, having changed a lot in looks since grade school. She seemed to have dropped her many pounds of weight from her stomach only to relocate them to her chest. And upon the discovery of conditioner and a flat iron, her frizzy red locks had become like the perfect velvet curtain in front of a stage—always flowing out to open or close the scene.

But she was also an outsider. I'd only met her since I started going to this community college. And she was completely clueless as to the real me and what went on in my head. It was how it had to stay.

As soon as the teacher properly dismissed the class, Leah hurriedly gathered her things and left without a single word. I sighed audibly in frustration and bent to roll up my yoga mat.

"Forget her, Raven," Madison assured me. "I don't understand why she gets to you so bad anyway."

"I envy her," was all I replied. I was never specific as to why. I couldn't be, not even to my best friend. Leah was a werewolf, the only girl wolf known in our tribe. I wanted to have powers, to be that kind of special with every fiber of my being. Truth was, I wasn't near that brave to stand out or have that kind of responsibility. Yet still, it was my secret to keep, for the sake of the rest of us.

"So… We doing some coffee shop time, or what?" Madison nudged me with her shoulder as we walked out of the classroom together.

"Sure, I could use a hot cocoa," I agreed, as I released my much-to-thick black locks from their harness of a hair-tie.

"You mind if I invite someone?" Madison coaxed.

I gave her a sly look.

"A _guy_ someone?" I fished.

"Maybe…" she laughed.

"Who the hell is this?" I demanded to know. "Why haven't you told me about him?"

"Well, it kinda just happened yesterday, and I wanted you to see him for yourself."

I nodded in compliance.

"Keep an open mind," Madison ordered. "You're gonna love him."

**~RR~**

When we got to the coffee shop, I could hear some acoustic jazz coming out from the inside. It was an especially cold day in winter, and when we stepped out of Madison's Lexus, it hit me like a hard punch to the chest. First the cold, then something else: A feeling of great discomfort, a churning in my stomach, and a very unsettling sense of dread.

I fixed my bright yellow scarf around my contrasting dark neck and tried to ignore it, especially when Madison showed concern. I assured her it was nothing and led the way inside the shop.

The dread only grew when we entered fully through the door, like a black cloud hanging close over my head. The air seemed thick, like a hot, muggy day in the pits of the South, so thick I could barely breathe. My heart began to skip beats, and I instinctively started to search the crowd for the source of this strange unexpected sickness. Somehow I just knew it was coming from someone, or some_thing_, in this room.

My eyes honed in on his. That pale face, those bold eyes- it was a wonder everyone around didn't question his presence here. It was so painfully obvious to those that were properly informed on such matters.

A vampire. Sitting innocently amongst us mortals, drinking coffee.

Besides that Cullen group, I hadn't seen many of them. Not the carnivorous ones. They gave off such a different aura about them. A bigger and broader sense of danger.

Suddenly, I feared for my life. My forehead and palms grew sweaty, my heart raced and my breath drew out longer. My mind was everywhere at once, formulating escape plans for me and Madison whilst drawing the least attention to ourselves, what excuses I could concoct to make Madison go along with it most willingly… and another part of me was wondering if there was a way I could dispose of this guy without harm befalling myself.

My mind started to slow down to a halt when I realized that Madison was leading me by the arm straight towards him. I began to put two and two together, realizing this man-sorry, this _vampire_- was who we were hanging out with tonight.

**~RR~**

**Please review! I miss getting them, so much.**  
**Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	2. Chapter 2: Bloodsuckers & Glue Sniffers

**Chapter 2: Bloodsuckers and Glue-Sniffers**

~RR~

I didn't know what to do. I was quickly losing the opportunity to leave. The vampire hadn't noticed we'd come in yet, or at least he didn't make eye contact with us. That feeling of doom and gloom was only thickening. I stopped trying to breathe and simply held my breath. My forehead was now dripping with sweat. I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

"Madison," I said urgently. "Can we _not_ have coffee here? _Please_?"

"Raven…?" Madison exclaimed when she saw the terror upon my face. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I just want to get out of here. I really want to. _Right_ now."

"Okay, sure," she agreed seriously. "Let me just grab my friend-"

"No!" I screeched, but it was too late. He'd finally noticed us, especially when Madison started waving at him. When he began to walk over, I panicked. I didn't want to just abandon Madison to her fate, so I had no choice but to hold my ground.

"Hello, Madison," the vampire greeted, leaning to give her a hug. I noticed that he took a deep breath of her hair as he did so, and I shuddered.

"And who's this?" he looked to me next. As my gaze locked to his, I suddenly felt a huge sense of calm and relief. I took a deep lungful of what felt like fresh springtime air, and a cooling sensation went down my spine.

"Hi, there," he said smoothly, only nodding in my direction instead of extending a cold, dead hand for me to shake. His bright blue eyes (obviously contacts, of course) flashed with excitement at seeing me, probably for the prospect of me becoming the second course to go along with his first. "I'm Gabriel."

Though my whole body wanted to trust him, to be near him, like a forceful shift of the universe. I fought the notion with everything in me. It had to be some sort of vampire trick.

"This is Raven, my best friend in the world," Madison replied, patting an encouraging hand on my shoulder. "She's not feeling so hot right now, though. Would it be okay if we sat outside?"

I saw the vampire double check if it was dark outside, probably more out of habit then ignorance.

"Of course," he agreed, then stepped aside with a showgirl's motion of hands to allow 'ladies first'.

Madison and I found tables outside, but Madison didn't sit.

"The usual, Rave?" she offered to me. "My treat today."

It was Madison's usual ploy, trying to be extra nice in an effort to appear like a wonderful, generous person in front of whoever she was trying to impress.

"Allow me," the vampire insisted, sliding a ten-dollar bill her way along the wooden table. She smiled at me with appreciation as she took the money graciously.

Then she left me alone with… _it_.

I was suddenly fearless. I glared the vampire without hindrance, crossing my arms indignantly. For a moment, it fidgeted under my harsh gaze, smoothing its blonde hair, and twitching in its seat.

"I'm sorry, is something wrong?" it asked me politely.

"I know who you are," I declared boldly. "_What_ you are."

It smiled and looked away, as if I had just said something amusing.

"I'm Gabriel."

He was testing me. I didn't miss a beat.

"You're a _vampire_," I shot back.

He leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully, and surveyed me as if in a new light.

"You're a Quileute girl, aren't you?"

I fingered the small feather on the end of a beaded braid in the midst of my mess of black hair.

"What gave me away…?" I said sarcastically. A rhetorical question.

We had a short moment of silence, while I let him try to figure out how to proceed. I decided for him.

"I'm not going to let you eat my best friend, you know that, right?"

He outright laughed now.

"Is that a fact?" he challenged. "You going to get your little puppy friends to stop me?"

More staring.

"Relax," he assured me. "I'm not going to eat your friend."

"Why not?" I spat in surprise.

"Mostly, because you asked me so nicely," he replied with a smirk.

"Hot chocolate- no vanilla, extra chocolate syrup on top!" Madison sang out, putting a lidded cup on the table before me.

I was dead silent, staring at Dante, who only winked at me discreetly. Then he let his gaze be distracted to Madison, who had offered him a piece of her pastry. He respectfully declined.

I was pretty silent the rest of the visit, assuring Madison I still wasn't feeling well. When it started to get late, I was never so grateful that I didn't drive today, since Madison had no choice but to drive with me home.

~RR~

I sighed in relief when I walked through my front door, dropping my bag of yoga stuff on the hardwood-floored foyer, then slipped off my flats to throw in our shoe basket for the sake of our carpet. After this much excitement, it was no wonder I was exhausted.

I'd tried to convince Madison to spend the night, in case that vampire tried to follow her, but she insisted she had responsibilities to attend to at home. I managed to make her agree not to step outside alone, because I'd heard there was a burglar rapist on the loose and I was sure he liked rich redheads best. She seemed to buy it.

I stepped into the living room to find my parents sitting with the Mason family, our neighbors from up the road a bit.

"Oh…!" I exclaimed my surprise. "Hi, everyone."

"Raven!" my mother cried out. "There you are! We were expecting you home hours ago. Come, join us!"

"Actually, I got this paper to write and I'm super tired…"

"Nonsense, it can wait!" my mom assured me, and I began to realize the situation when I spotted the Mason's only son, Beauregard, step out of the kitchen with a soda in each hand. My parents had been trying to set me up with Beau Mason since freshman year of high school.

I happened to be chronically single. Most of my family periodically asked me if I was lesbian, because I only hung out with Madison most of the time and the last guy I thought was slightly attractive was a glue-sniffer in sixth grade. Oh yeah, and I talked incessantly about how cool I thought Leah Clearwater was, which in retrospect, probably wasn't the best idea.

Beau was gorgeous, had rich folks that my parents adored, and he was a werewolf- what wasn't to love? Probably the fact that he'd done most of the girls in my class and I was sure he had at least three STD's by now. And that he used to pants me, like, ALL the time, screaming out through the halls that he was 'cravin' more Raven'. Sure, once upon a time, I may have been crazy attracted to him- yeah, _he_ was the glue sniffer- but now… I really wasn't feeling it anymore. At all.

I sat down and the parents started talking again about boring things I wasn't supposed to take part in. I knew the drill by now. I was being forced to talk to Beau.

"Hi," he said meekly. He offered me the soda he had no doubt had retrieved just for me before I had even arrived. I took the Coke gladly, opening it and taking a big swig. I was so hasty, a bit dribbled down my chin.

"Wow- thirsty?" Beau chuckled. I feigned a grin. I had no idea why Fate served to make me most embarrassing in front of him. Yet, it was obvious he liked me all the more for it.

"Thanks, I was," I replied. I tapped my fingers on the underside of my small, wooden chair. I fidgeted under Beau's stare.

"You know," he said at length. "Your mom told me why you never wanted to date me."

"_Did_ she now?" I shot a condemning glance to my mother, but she was too wound up in conversation to notice. "And why is that?"

"Cuz I embarrassed you in high school," he replied in a low voice, hanging his head. "I'm really sorry about that. I was immature and had a crush."

He looked at me as if expecting a profound reaction to this confession, but it was nothing I hadn't heard fifty times already. I sighed as if bored by the statement. It was a wonder he hadn't already asked my parents for my hand in marriage- perish the thought.

"Beau…" I started but he was quick to interrupt.

"I just want one date, and I'm sure you'll love me."

"That a fact?" I frowned. "That how it went down with Abigail Miller? Alexa Doane? Anna? And we haven't even gotten to the 'B' names yet, you man-whore!"

I hadn't noticed the adults had gone silent, before it was too late.

"_Raven_!" my mother scolded.

I gulped in embarrassment at the Masons staring in shock. My cheeks went hot.

"I-I'm so sorry," I spat out quickly. "That was really uncalled for. I'm just really tired, and cranky… obviously…"

"We will discuss this _later_," my mom said through her teeth. "Maybe it is a good idea that you go to bed, young lady."

Oh, great, the 'young lady' bit. I was in so much trouble it wasn't even funny. The last time she had called me 'young lady' was when I had joyrided the family car straight into a ditch.

I cowered away, quickly making my way toward the stairs while my parents tried to mend their friendship with their favorite friends. I could swear I heard them saying that the marriage will have to be 'pushed out to June'.

No doubt my father would come speak to me later tonight, reminding me of our financial woes and how marrying Beau would be a 'good thing for me and the family'.

I shut my room door behind me, leaning my head against its comforting wood panels with a big relieving sigh. I knew my dad only ever had the best intentions in mind for my mom and me. And the more I thought about it, the more I figured it could be worse. Beau was nice enough, handsome enough, and seemed to like me fine. _Maybe I really should hang out with him more_, I thought. See if he didn't grow on me.

I shook my head and plopped my whole self onto my squeaky bed. This was a thought process for some other time. I'd had enough stress for one day.

~RR~

**Please review! It's my birthday on May 3rd and all I want is a mess of reviews as my present… Thanks!**  
**Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	3. Chapter 3: No Reasoning With Beasts

**Chapter 3: No Reasoning With Beasts**

~RR~

I was exhausted all through my Thursday classes at college. I spent most of the night trying to put my mind at ease, debating whether or not things would end up all right for me in the end. But most of all, I worried about Madison. She hadn't texted me back in over twelve hours- which was highly unusual. It had taken me a long time to convince myself that the vampire had stayed true to his word and hadn't eaten her.

The very notion made me feel sick to my stomach and want to cry.

When the teacher finally dismissed me from my three-hour class, and I couldn't wait to leave so I could meet with Madison for our standard lunch-break together. I ran across campus to one of the cafeterias and scanned the tables for my friend. I didn't find her…

Though I did find _one_ face I recognized.

He sat as one without a care in the world, his feet propped up on the table while he leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. His fake-blue eyes stared blankly out a nearby window, pondering his creepy, pathetic existence, no doubt. His face was too perfect, his skin flawless like shiny porcelain, the blonde hair only serving to add the illusion that he was a Ken doll. He was highlighted like an angel from heaven from the white glow of the sun streaming in through the window. I couldn't help but admire him for a moment, his pure beauty that came with being what he was.

A vampire.

Once I remembered that, it was all too easy to snap out of my ogling trance. I stormed over to the corner table where the vampire had his feet propped up. I threw his combat boots to the floor angrily, jolting him upright. He seemed obviously alarmed but made no audible outburst to indicate it.

"Where's Madison?" I hissed harshly, but it was still loud enough to make other closeby students stare at the scene I was making. I grabbed at his collar and spoke even lower to make sure he was the only one who heard my next words. "If you ate her, swear to God, I'll send the wolves after you so fast-"

He snickered.

"-Calm yourself, Robin."

"_Raven_," I corrected quickly, only getting angrier by the minute.

"Whatever," he brushed me off. "I told you yesterday, I have no intention of eating your friend. She's just over yonder."

He motioned off to the distant lunch line, where Madison noticed me and waved excitedly. I sighed in relief and waved back with less enthusiasm. I whipped my head back to the vampire.

"If you're not going to eat her, then what the hell are you doing here?"

Gabriel hesitated, fidgeting in his chair.

"I'm here for you, actually."

I took a sudden step backward.

"You're gonna eat _me_…" I gathered, suddenly very afraid.

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"For Pete's sake, get the 'eating' thing outta your _head_! I had to visit with your friend all day before she let it out that she was meeting you here. If I had any desire to eat her or you, I certainly would've done so already. I'm not a mindless killing machine and I'm actually offended at you insinuating such."

He reacted so harshly that I wondered for a moment if his cold undead heart felt guilt in what he did. It was enough for me to lower my head in remorse. The only thing I had ever heard of vampires was what my kin had taught me. I'd never actually spoken to one before, not even the Cullens. Now that I was speaking with one, I felt a little stupid for discriminating. Then again, this thing _did_ survive on murdering living things and drinking their blood.

In our moment of uncomfortable silence, it was then I noticed something about this particular vampire that I wondered why I had failed to notice before. It was a little pendant, hanging on a chain around his neck. A crest, of a very particular group…

"Oh my God…" I breathed. "You're a…"

He nodded agreeably, right as Madison joined us, greeting me fondly and helping herself to a seat. I didn't hear her, much less respond. I was fixated on that pendant. He was uncomfortable under my stare, and just took a glance out the nearest window.

He wasn't just a vampire. He was a Volturi.

That meant there had to more of them close. More human-eaters walking our rainy streets. More of those murderers taking away perfectly healthy lives for their own parasitic sustenance. I visibly gulped and my forehead grew sweaty. What was their purpose for being here? He did say he was here for me… what could he mean by that? Was their presence a danger to the werewolves, like Leah Clearwater? Or even myself?

"We still going dress-shopping after classes today, Rave?"

I zoned back into Madison and her frivolous concerns like dresses for her enormous twenty-first birthday party at a club downtown.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," I assured her.

"Mind if I tag along?" Gabriel piped in.

"Actually, we _do_," I said the same time Madison chimed in with a: "No, not at all!"

"Great!" Gabriel agreed happily, ignoring me entirely as he got up to go, before I could protest. "Then I'll meet you here later!"

"But-!" I tried to fit in, but he was already waving out the door. Madison frowned at me.

"What was _that_?" she spared no time in asking. "Why the _hell_ don't you like him?"

I didn't know how to answer that.

~RR~

I pouted in the driver's seat of my car, insistent on being the one to drive Madison and her vampire date to the mall so that I could have the final say on when we were to leave. And I sure as hell planned on making that as soon as humanly possible.

I stared at Gabriel in the backseat practically the entire way, almost making us get into an accident on more than one occasion. He seemed happy as a clam, waving back to me in the review's reflection with a cheery disposition. I couldn't wait to have a minute alone with this sucker. I needed answers, and I needed them now.

As soon as we were inside a store that was properly crowded and cluttered, I quickly honed in on several dresses I figured Madison would like, and herded her into the nearest dressing room. Then I grabbed the vampire's stone-cold bicep and went to a dark corner behind a rack of unwanted dressing room leftovers.

"Just tell me one thing," I hissed in a hurry. "Are you here for the Cullen crew or us?"

"Nothing gets by you, huh?" he smirked. "Let's just say, I _was_ going to eat your friend Madison, there… but I happened upon a Godsend in meeting you, Quileute girl."

He suddenly looked upon me with genuine confusion.

"Have you always been this short?"

I ignored that.

"Then you just want to _use_ me to get to the werewolves!"

"If it would avoid any… _violent_ misunderstandings, then yes. My leaders are very interested in recruiting them for his own protection, in exchange for a hunting ban on the entire state of Washington, and declaring it an official 'werewolf preserve'."

"You're wasting your time," I warned. "The shifters aren't pets to anyone, especially not vampires. So good luck with that."

"I knew it," he huffed. "All you Indian wolves are proud, ignorant racists. Or rather, _species_ists."

"That's _Native American_ wolves to you."

"Rave?" I heard Madison call, no doubt trying to find a second opinion. I rushed out to see her model a copper dress, skin tight and also somehow making her perfect body look fat.

"Yeah, no," I shook my head, then waved her back into the dressing room. As soon as that door closed, I was back behind the rack with the vampire.

"Well, I hate to burst your little hope bubble," I went on. "But I'm not a Wolf, nor do I have any standings with them. I can't even get Leah Clearwater to hold a decent conversation with me, so you're barking up the wrong tree."

"Well, yes, I gathered that from my spying on you. You don't bear the mark of a werewolf on your arm, or any other part of your body."

I gasped and suddenly clasped my arms over my chest as if trying to maintain more modesty.

"You Peeping Tom! You spied on me last night? At my own house?"

He shrugged.

"I followed you. Old news. You obviously expected I'd follow _some_one since you called Madison to warn her."

He leaned close to my eyes with a smile, while somehow not crossing my line of personal space.

"And might I just say, I liked what I saw."

That's when I slapped him. He didn't even flinch. I had forgotten vampires had a higher tolerance to pain.

He took it for a moment, letting the shock of it pass, before he pulled away and stood up straight again.

"I'm- I'm sorry," I sputtered, not knowing what else to say. I'd never hit someone in the face before and I felt extremely guilty.

"Rave! Where are you?" Madison called after me again. I left him again for her, looking at her in a blue dress now.

"That's a good one, Maddie," I advised, then dove back into the wall of dresses to Gabriel.

"You willingly stepped onto werewolf lands?" I said, a bit impressed by his bravery, or astounding insanity. "That's suicide! How did you manage to _not_ get your vampire-y stench all up in a werewolf's nose?"

"Fortunately, most of your werewolfy friends were off chasing my friends. They came to talk but there is no reasoning with _beasts_."

"I take offense to that," I stated. "Feeling myself, if only in spirit, one of those 'beasts' that you speak of."

He grabbed me by the face then, very gently but still very suddenly, and spoke in a whisper.

"But you are _not_ one of them," he corrected. "You are so, _so_ very different."

I was a bit stunned by his brash actions, my face in his ice-cold clutches, his blue eyes piercing into my brown ones, and it took me a moment to recover.

"How could I possibly be different?" I said at length.

"Rave!" I heard Madison call again. Gabriel slowly lowered his icy hands away from my feverish cheeks.

"I'll tell you later," he promised. "In full detail, at Madison's party."

"Rave?" Madison said, turning the corner to find Gabriel and I both standing awkwardly apart. "Yeah," she said decisively, showing me the navy blue dress, now back on the hangar. "This guy's definitely the one."

~RR~

**Please review!**  
**Signed,**  
**-RedRogue**


	4. Chapter 4: One of Them

**Chapter 4:**

~RR~

After I came home from the mall that day, I found only an empty house.

"Mom?" I called out, but there was no answer. I only saw my father's mother's mother, whom we called Grandma Lala, because no one could properly pronounce her Native name. I saw her sitting outside with a fire pit full of smoke, shaking her weird rattle-stick over it and singing to herself in her language. She did that a lot, a means of 'keeping our old culture alive in this modern world', she said. She believed that with it she was more connected to the earth, and thus able to see it more clearly. She sure surprised me by the things she sensed, almost to the point where I had once believed she could see the future. I'd since grown out of it and passed it off as her being slightly crazy.

"Grandma?" I said gently, as I peeked open the sliding glass door to the backyard. She paused, and smiled at me.

"Yes, dear?" she answered.

"Where is everybody?" I asked.

"There was talk of vampires close last night," she replied. "They've gone with the Masons to meet with the wolves to discuss what must be done."

I lowered my head, almost in shame, knowing that my conversing with one of the vampires and not reporting him wouldn't be welcome news to anyone of my family.

"I saw one the other night," my grandma confessed. "In our own yard, right by your window…"

It sounded like she was expecting me to respond, but didn't know what to say. So, I just stayed silent, staring into the fire.

"I wonder what he was looking for?" she went on pensively. "Whatever it was, it seemed worth risking his life to find…"

She grabbed my chin then, to direct my eyes to hers. She stared deeply into them for a moment, as if trying to search me for some answer. I furrowed my brow, worried what she was thinking, if she somehow _knew_…

After a moment, she smiled with her yellow teeth, and let me loose.

"Don't you have a party soon?" she asked.

I nodded slowly.

"I was thinking of skipping it," I admitted with a shrug. I didn't elaborate as to why.

She gasped as if I had spoken blasphemy.

"No," she scolded. "You must go!"

She leaned closer to me.

"You must," she repeated.

I could only nod, wondering what madness was going on in her mind.

It suddenly dawned on me, very random-like, that the vampire had been _boldly_ flirting with me back at the mall. After a moment of letting this epiphany digest, I next realized that I was strangely okay with it. Flattered, even. He was a gorgeous man, who knew better than to flirt with danger, yet somehow found me attractive enough to do so anyway.

I rubbed my head, suddenly feeling a massive headache. I assumed it was just the thought of what would happen if I ever consorted with the vampire, but I soon realized my worry was not the cause of my pain. My forehead felt like it was one fire, as did the rest of my body, I started to sweat profusely, and nausea set in.

"Grandma Lala?" I moaned, holding my stomach and suddenly desperate for a place to lie down. "I don't feel so good."

I blacked out soon after that.

~RR~

When I came to, I saw Beau Mason's face above my own, looking down at me with a concerned frown.

"She's awake," I heard Beau say, but it took me a moment to shake off the wooziness of waking up, to realize that he wasn't the only one around me.

"Yes, Mason, we can see that_,_" a female voice was heard now, and I looked over to see Leah Clearwater standing with Paul and Jacob, Beau, and my parents. In my house, in my room no less, I had earned a visit with the famous Leah Clearwater. I suddenly sat up, overjoyed.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked out loud.

"Because you are one of us now_,_" Jacob explained through telepathy. "You're starting the transformation. You'll soon become the second female werewolf ever to exist."

"I hope it doesn't become an epidemic," Paul commented. "It was hard enough to accept Leah as one of the guys, now we're supposed to get rugged with this prissy priss?"

"Just because she's a werewolf, doesn't mean she has to be part of our pack," Jacob said aloud. "That's her decision."

When the words 'one of us' and 'werewolf' rang in my head, as I digested what had happened to me.

"How long was I out?" I asked my father.

"Over a week and a half," he replied. "They've been staying here until you woke up. Apparently, when they got here, you reeked of vampire scent, and it sparked great concern."

"How long have you been seeing a vampire?" Leah demanded.

"We can't hear your thoughts until you're fully formed," Jacob put in. "So you're going to have to tell us."

I held my head in stress. I felt that pounding migraine begin its relapse. I looked to Jacob, who folded his arms in anxious, angry impatience at my reply, but was holding his cool better than Leah, who looked ready to choke me, and Beau, who was too furious to even face me.

I threw my eyes elsewhere, my cheeks burning, and not just in a hot fever. I was so ashamed of myself it nearly brought tears to my eyes. My mouth was dry and I could barely form words.

"He befriended Madison, my best friend, intent on eating her," I choked out. "He guessed who I was and has been trying to use me to get to you ever since."

"Well," Jacob looked to Leah and Beau. "He may just get his big chance. Do you know where he might be going next?"

I bit my lip and considered carefully. I knew if I told them, they would surely kill him. Why did that seem suddenly a thought unbearable?

"Are you really worrying about the _vampire _right now?" Beau seemed only to get angrier with every moment that passed with me silent. I looked at Leah, who I so desperately wanted to impress. This was what I had always wanted. I was one of them now, I had no choice but loyalty to my kind. That vampire, no matter how handsome, had to be nothing to me now.

"Madison's having a birthday party at her house tonight," I replied at last. "He said he had something to tell me when I got there."

I saw all the werewolves present exchange glances.

"Something like _what_?" Beau demanded angrily. His outburst seemed to be what they all were thinking.

"Let's not put this out of perspective," Jacob tried to calm Beau down. "The point is, we have an exact time and place to strike. Let's hope he shows."

I got several glares at my obvious dismay, but I was ignored.

"And it would be my advice, Mr. and Mrs. Ferraly," Beau whispered to my parents in a not-so-subtle manner. "That we decide on whether Raven will commit to me as soon as possible."

I rolled my eyes, and followed after Beau, out the door, and tried to pull him aside for a private talk. The others went on without him. This was not an easy task, as he was buffer than I remembered, and his strength easily overcame mine. Luckily, he got the hint and was willing to talk to me.

"You know," I told Beau. "Rushing me won't win you any points."

"I'm not trying to win points," Beau retorted. "I'm trying to save your life by taking you off the market. I saw your face when you talked about him, Raven, and it wasn't a comforting sight."

"I won't let you take this out of my hands. In the end, this is all still my choice!"

"That's what _you_ think," Beau said, coming uncomfortably close to my face. "Try to understand that I'm not the bad guy here, Raven. Your choice about what side you're on has been taken out of your hands by Fate, not just me. You're a shifter now."

He took my hands in his.

"I've been in love with you since forever, you and I both know that. All those other girls, it was just me trying to find a substitute, but in the end it's always been about you. I'm sorry I didn't see that when I had the chance."

"Doesn't change anything," I insisted, taking my hands out of his grasp and going back into my room to lay down some more, to steal some alone time to think, to process all of this. I felt bad for being harsh with Beau, considering that all he was doing was out of affection for me, but it wasn't enough for me to forgive him for taking me by force. I knew he was right, that in the end the choice wasn't going to be mine. I decided I would enjoy my freedom while I had it.

~RR~

"Madison, hurry up!" I heard Madison's mom call frantically from outside. "The party's starting without you!"

"Alright mother, I'm coming!" Madison exited the bathroom in an obnoxiously large lavender ball gown, and handed me a tiara to help fit on her head. "I'm so glad you're feeling better from your weird flu, Rave," she sighed. "I would have hated to handle a party without your help."

I gladly aided the birthday girl, smiling at her flattery, while trying to go about bringing up Gabriel to Madison in a way that would seem the least suspicious. I soon decided to just spit it out.

"Maddie?" I said gently. "What do you think of Gabriel these days?"

"Eh," Madison replied, checking over my tiara work in the nearby mirror. "Kinda already bored of him. I've only seen him, like, _once_ since that time that we were at the mall. He's so smart and very cute, but he's sooo… serious. It's like he's secretly an eighty year old man."

I snickered to myself. She didn't know how accurate she was.

"Why do you ask?" she added on, smiling at me with suspicion. "Do we have a crush?"

I gulped and halted my pacing.

"Oh, uh, no, I... I just think he might be into _me_."

"What makes you say that?"

"He was giving me some pretty strong signals when I was around him last."

"Really?" I could almost hear Madison's frowning in disappointment in him. I would have reacted the same way. "You know, come to think of it, when we went out last he seemed to want to talk about you a lot. I think you may be right... but I thought you didn't like him?"

"I don't!" I protested, remembering the other werewolves surely in tune to this conversation, then sighed. "I don't know _what_ to think about him."

"He is pretty freakin' _cu-ute_," Madison sang out.

"He _is_ pretty freakin' cute," I repeated, with a sure nod in agreement. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"You are welcome to go for it, girl," Madison waved me off. "You have my complete approval."

"Well, I thank you for the gesture, but I doubt I'll need it," I assured her, but suddenly, I was looking forward to this party, if only to see him again… Then I remembered the other werewolves lingering about to snatch him as soon as he arrived, and my heart quickly felt back into its dreaded misery.

I slipped on Madison's rejected navy mermaid dress over my nude bra and underwear, and straightened it out in front of Madison's full-length mirror. I was glad Madison had given it to me after she had changed her mind about it, and it saved me from having to sport Grandma Lala's dress from when she was young, a tan-colored atrocity that it smelled as old as it was. I couldn't afford a new dress, and was all too grateful for Madison's charity. I slipped on some long black gloves and a ridiculously long black shawl and modeled it for a bit, making sure it fit right in all ways. I realized then, that I had always been envious of Madison's perfect body, but now, standing in her dress, I saw that we were pretty much the same size.

I beamed with pride. At least I looked good.

"We are sooo ready," Madison said proudly, as we looked over ourselves in the mirror. "Let's go make our grand entrance."

She went out into the hall to the balcony terrace over the backyard, where stairs led to the grassy plain, a makeshift hardwood floor, set up before a big band stage. For Madison's twenty-first, her wealthy, party-loving parents could do nothing but go all out. We're talking catering, live music, lights, the whole sha-bang.

I let Madison make her entrance alone, let the cheers die down and for her to proceed down the stairs before I stepped out into sight.

I lingered on the balcony over the party, letting the summer air fill my desperate lungs. I was searching for him, without shame.

He wasn't there. I inspected each and every party guests' face three times before I felt sure of it. I suddenly felt insanely foolish for thinking he would even risk coming at all. Things had to be dangerous out there, he must realize the wolves were on alert for them. Thank God- he may have outsmarted them.

But all too quickly, my breathing ceased altogether, as I honed in on his figure, just entering the party from the side gate. He spotted me and I could only freeze, as he parted his way through the crowd towards me. He stopped at the foot of the staircase. We were silent with stares.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice bold through the party noise:

"Hello."

I blushed at his single word, ducking my head in shame.

"Hi," I said airily.

"You look…" he shook his head, searching for the right word.

"Good enough to eat?" I joked.

He grinned, and shook his head to disagree.

"I was going to say picturesque."

I ducked my head to hide my red-hot cheeks, and I heard him start to make his way up the stairs. I took a quick glance around the party for the other wolves, but I couldn't spot a single one. If I was quick, I might be able to...

No, I shook the thought aside, and tried to fight it from coming back. I refused to meet Gabriel's gaze, even when he was standing before me. I couldn't believe I was acting like a love-struck fool over a vampire.

He put the cold knuckle of his right hand lift my chin up so I would meet his eye.

"Have you figured out why you're so different from the rest of the beasts?" he asked, looking at me with a pleasant half-smile. I stalled and avoided answering out of embarrassment.

"Well, I don't want to assume…" I pressed him onward, my confidence growing as I began to see that my guesses about his feelings were starting to become confirmed by him before he even spoke.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" he chuckled.

"You said you would tell me," I replied with a smile. "'In full detail', as I recall."

His head ducked now. I wished vampires had _blood_ to _blush with_ so we would be on the same playing field.

"When I first saw you…" he started, then took a moment to continue. "I thought your blood was the most repulsive thing I had ever smelled… then I realized it was only because… you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

The world went still as my brain ceased to function, not computing what I had just heard. I stared into his eyes to see if this was some sort of joke.

Then, suddenly, Jacob grabbed at Gabriel's left arm, as Paul latched to his right. Gabriel, surprised, tried to fight them off.

"Jacob, wait!" I tried to protest, but I knew it was far too late for it. I involuntarily fell into Gabriel's line of sight, and slowly, he began to dawn on the fact that he'd been set up, and his eyes narrowed into a spiteful glare.

"You said you weren't one of them," he stated to me, and I could only give him pitiful speechlessness. I felt helpless as I watched them drag him out of sight. As he fought against their pull some more, his voice turned higher into a yell.

"YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T ONE OF THEM!"

_~RR_~

Please review!  
Signed,  
-RedRogue


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